The plot follows 12-year-old Lizzie (Heather Ann Foster) who, after being involved in a road traffic accident and suffering a near-death experience, feels that she is haunted by a malicious spirit that she brought back with her from the afterlife.
[5] Variety described the film as "a clever, often potent blend of British kitchen-sink drama with fantasy elements that gains added resonance by being set in gruff, rugged Glasgow".
[6] Fangoria described it as "one of the most authentically rendered '90s horror films about the poor, lower-class world which its cast of central characters inhabit.
Comparisons to Ken Loach and Mike Leigh might seem hyperbolic, but Joliffe and Urban Ghost Story ultimately don't need to be tethered to big name fancy pants male filmmakers to justify how good it is; this movie stands on its own, and is an extraordinary snapshot of how poverty, shame, guilt and isolation work together, all through the enduring supernatural metaphor of the ghost".
[7] The Guardian described the film as "a ghost story told with conviction, some creepy atmospherics in the desolate tower block, and an interesting riff on the poltergeist as a manifestation of poverty and alienation".